Extinct vs. Endangered The Great Auk vs. the Vancouver Island Marmot.

What does extinct, endangered, threatened, and extirpated mean?

�  Extinct means to have no living members of your species left.

�  Endangered means to be seriously at risk of extinction.

�  Threatened means a species that is vulnerable to becoming endangered.

�  Extirpation is the extinction of an animal in a local area.

An extinct animal species that lived in Canada

�  The Great Auk was found in the cold waters along the coast of Canada, the northeastern United States and the northwest coast of Europe. They were a food source for Neanderthals and Native Americans.

�  The reason for the Great Auk’s extinction was because Europeans valued their down and as a result of this, almost completely eliminated their whole population.

�  Almost extinct, the last colony lived on the islet Geirfuglasker (meaning “Great Auk Rock”) which was inaccessible to humans. In 1930 the islet submerged because of a volcanic eruption and the birds had to move to the nearby island of Eldey.

�  The last Great Auk was strangled to death on July 3, 1844 on the island of Eldey, off the coast of Iceland.

Great Auk Pictures

An endangered species: The Vancouver Island Marmot

�  The Vancouver Marmot is similar to typical alpine-dwelling marmots in its general form and physiology but it can be easily told apart from other marmots because of its chocolate brown fur and contrasting white patches.

�  The Vancouver Marmot lives in burrows and is a dedicated herbivore eating over 30 different plant species.

�  The Vancouver Marmot also hibernates for about 210 days from late fall to mid-spring.

Why are Vancouver Island Marmots endangered?

�  Forest clear-cutting and re-growing forests into man-made habitats are unsuitable to the marmots. One 2005 study concluded the main cause of recent decline to be predation "associated with forestry and altered predator abundance and hunting patterns” because of forest clear-cuts and regrowth. In this way humans are indirectly the biggest cause for the decline in the marmot population.

�  Another reason for low Marmot numbers is because of the Allee effect which is a theory by Warder Clyde Allee, saying that social animals require a critical mass in order to survive, because survival requires group activities such as warning of predators and migration. A decline below that threshold causes rapid reduction of numbers.

�  In 2003 there were only 21 wild Vancouver Island Marmots left in the wild making them one of the rarest mammals on earth.

How Vancouver Island Marmots are being prevented from becoming extinct

like the Great Auk

�  When scientists discovered that there were so few Vancouver Island Marmots left they started a captive breeding program as a “genetic lifeboat” for them in the Toronto Zoo. The Calgary Zoo and Mountainview Conservation and Breeding Centre in Langley, BC quickly followed this effort by helping to breed more marmots. Also, The Marmot Recovery Foundation built a dedicated facility for these animals to further facilitate captive breeding and pre-release conditioning.

�  From 2003 to 2012 the Marmot Recovery Foundation and the B.C. Ministry of Environment have released 308 marmots back into the wild. An expected 350-400 individuals are to be released in 2013.

�  One of the 2010 Winter Olympic mascots, MukMuk, was portrayed to be a Vancouver Island Marmot to help bring awareness to this species endangerment.

Sources

�  Info: Contributors, Wikipedia. "Vancouver Island Marmot." Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 23 Dec. 2013. Web. 25 Dec. 2013.

�  Contributors, Wikipedia. "Great Auk." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 20 Dec. 2013. Web. 20 Dec. 2013.

�  Greak Auk Picture 1: Pennington, Mike. Great_Auk_(Pinguinis_impennis)_specimen,_Kelvingrove,_Glasgow_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1108249.jpg. 2009. Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Glasgow. geograph.org.uk. Web. 20 Dec. 2013.

�  Greak Auk Picture 2: Gerrard Keulemans, John. Keulemans-GreatAuk.jpg. Before 1912. http://rzbl04.biblio.etc.tu-bs.de. Web. 20 Dec. 2013.

�  Vancouver Island Marmot Picture 1: Gardner, Oli. 6a010535647bf3970b01157212555f970b-800wi.jpg. 2009. http://www.zooborns.com. Web. 23 Dec. 2013.

�  Vancouver Island Marmot Picture 2: Hobbs, Gardener. bmava-2011-5178.jpg. 2011. http://marmots.org. Web. 23 Dec. 2013.